From Cradle to Grave: a Yu-Gi-Oh! Story (rewrite)
by Psychopithicus
Summary: Upon moving to Paradise City, home of the revolutionary Action Duel, a reluctant young duelist finds her life slowly spiraling out of control. In order to combat a rising darkness, she must swallow her pride and make sacrifices in order to survive.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome, all, to a rewrite of a previous story I did. This is set (more-or-less) concurrently to Arc-V. Hope you enjoy.**

 **Yu-Gi-Oh: From Cradle to Grave**

Chapter 1:

Buses smelled _terrible_.

Just her luck that she was propped at the window closest to the tailpipe, where every ounce of exhaust that belched out of the bus' rear inevitably found its way through an open window. Some cosmic dueling entities had also seen to it that this specific window would _stay_ open regardless of how much people would wish otherwise.

With a sudden lurch, the bus froze in its tracks. The occupant in the back—a teenage girl with blonde hair mixed with green highlights—was catapulted into the seat immediately in front of her.

Well, at least now her smashed nose couldn't smell the exhaust.

"Sorry about the rough ride, folks, but we've arrived at our destination," the bus driver announced. "Welcome to Paradise City!"

With a roll of her eyes, the girl clutched her dark brown jacket around herself as she lurked in the back of the crowd. She was the last to disembark, some of the other passengers scattering forth with elated cries and leaps into the air.

 _Kill me now_ ,she thought. _Just freaking kill me now._

"Don't be a wimpy loser, be a winner!"

The booming voice brought the girl's gaze up to an enormous television screen mounted on the side of a building, where a giant man with three large spikes in his purple hair and red patches around his eyes gave whoever was watching his best intense facial expression and most dramatic finger point. A plethora of cards floated past him as a fire burned beside him.

"Come to the Leo Institute of Dueling, and I will teach you how to crush any opponent and fill them with fear!" the man declared.

 _Good for you,_ the girl thought bitterly. _Now go jump in a lake._

Choosing walking over taking the bus again, the girl carefully treaded her way through the streets of Paradise City. No one met her gaze or heard her speak. She was just another random person on the sidewalk, and nothing more. Besides, these people had other things to focus on.

"DUEL!"

The girl jumped a few feet in the air when she heard the collective cry of a dozen people who had gathered to watch two others face off. Each one bore a device mounted on the left arm, with a large energy blade protruding from the side.

Duel Monsters. Everything came back to Duel Monsters, a card game that had somehow existed since ancient Egypt. Monsters engaged one another in combat, aided by spell and trap cards that either powered the monsters up or stopped them in their tracks. Occasionally, the monsters would work together to summon more powerful monsters through a variety of processes.

The girl was familiar with this game. She gave the dueling crowd a brief look.

And then she walked away without so much as a backward glance.

Only a blank pair of eyes in the shadows saw her leave.

* * *

The park was where she wanted to go. She managed to find a nice tree and prop herself up against it. Dropping her backpack by her side, she pulled out a small book and began to read.

 _Finally,_ she sighed. _Maybe I can get a little reading done before school tomorrow._

She flipped to the first chapter of her book and allowed her eyes to traverse the pages. A few minutes in, she heard a polite cough above her. She glared upward to see an adolescent boy with glasses and luscious brown hair.

"Sorry," the boy said, flicking his hair a bit. "Couldn't help but notice you here."

"Mm-hmm," the girl grunted, eyes going back to her book.

"Mind if I take a seat?" he continued. "I've been walking a while, and I could really use a rest."

"Whatever," the girl shrugged. The boy sat down beside her and looked over at her.

"So, what's your name?" he asked.

The girl didn't respond.

"I'm Casey," the boy said. "You got a name?"

She ignored him again.

"You seem to really like reading," Casey remarked. "Any particular kind of book you're into?"

Still no response.

"Okay, fine," Casey said with a defeated raise of his hands. "Have it your way."

His words had the sound of surrender, but he still sat there. He began rummaging through his own backpack for something.

"Let's see…no, that's a textbook, surprising resemblance though…ah, here it is!" Casey said triumphantly, pulling out a small package no bigger than his hand. "Let me show you something of mine."

When the girl didn't look up, he tapped her forehead a bit.

"What?!" she snapped. Unfazed, Casey opened his box and pulled out a stack of cards.

Duel Monsters cards.

"This is my deck," he said proudly, spreading his cards out and picking out a particularly yellowed-looking card. "And _this_ is my favorite monster. He's a real black-scaled beauty, let me tell you. But, I have to say…even his looks couldn't hold a candle to you."

"I'm flattered," the girl said. "Now go away."

"Awesome, got two sentences out. Making progress," Casey smirked. "Seriously, though, you don't have to get all defensive. Let's start this encounter off right."

He opened another pocket on his backpack and pulled out what was unmistakably a Duel Disk. Attaching it to his arm, he slipped his deck into a slot and allowed the device to shuffle it.

"How about a duel?" Casey asked.

The girl shut her book with a resounding clap.

"How about you get eaten by vultures?" she growled.

"Hey, calm down," Casey said. "Just figured you would be a duelist. I mean, who isn't?"

"Me," the girl said. "I don't duel."

"Aw, why not?" Casey asked. "Dueling's fun! You get to meet all sorts of new people, you get stronger as a person…what's not to love about dueling?"

"Try the fact that people have died from dueling," the girl snarled. She slipped her book back into her backpack and made to leave.

"Hey, hold on!" Casey cried, grabbing her arm. "Is it so wrong to want to know someone?!"

"It is for me, now back off!" the girl yelled. Her struggle to get away managed to dislodge her backpack, and once it fell on the ground, something fell out.

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—" Casey began, but stopped upon noticing what fell out.

A Duel Monsters deck.

"So you _are_ a duelist," he grinned.

"Doesn't mean I want to waste my time screwing around with you," the girl shot back, gathering up her cards.

"Wait, wait, hold on," Casey said, clasping one of her hands in both of his. "Listen, they say that the best way to get to know someone is by dueling them. I'm not trying to pry—"

The girl snorted.

"—but I really want to know about you," Casey continued as if the snort never happened. "Look, I'll make you a deal. One duel, and that's it. Chances are good that what we're experiencing right now is one of those random encounters that will never happen again. So, I don't really think you have much to lose by dueling me."

"Ugh…fine," the girl sighed. "One duel. Then, I never want to see you again."

"Your choice," Casey shrugged. "Got a Duel Disk on hand?"

"Well…no, actually," the girl admitted. "I'm from out of town, didn't bring my Duel Disk with me. Haven't used it in years anyway, so it probably wouldn't fit."

"Don't worry about it," Casey smiled. "Gimme a sec."

He dug through his backpack again and pulled out a second Duel Disk.

"I always keep a spare Disk on hand," Casey said proudly, "in case a lovely lady like yourself could use one."

"…okay, before you were annoying," the girl said as she slid the Disk onto her arm. "Now you're crossing the border into creepy." The fact that the Disk fit perfectly added to this.

"I get that sometimes," Casey chuckled. "So, before we start, I don't believe I caught your name."

"Can we just not?" the girl sighed. "We went into this strangers, and I'd rather we stay strangers."

"Not going to happen, I'm afraid," Casey shook his head. "Dueling does that."

"Fine," the girl huffed. "My name's Serenity. Happy now?"

"Very," Casey nodded. "A pretty name for a pretty girl. You're just perfect all around, aren't you?"

"That depends," Serenity growled. "I'd like to see how perfect a cut I can make on your throat with the blade on this thing."

"All right, all right," Casey said. "Just making an observation. No need to freak out. Now, let's get this show on the road."

The two separated by a significant distance, leaving plenty of room for what was to come. Each clicked on their Duel Disk, and the blade came to life with a neon glow. Serenity's deck was shuffled, and a small screen with the number 4000 on it floated near Serenity's face.

"Wow, the holograms have gotten better since I last used these," she remarked.

"That would be the work of Paradise City's own Leo Corporation," Casey said as a life point counter of his own floated beside him, the same number written on it. "But I think we've had enough chat. Let's get down to the real business."

Serenity shrugged.

"DUEL!" Casey shouted.

 _Can you just, I don't know, not yell that to the heavens…?_ Serenity thought with a grimace. The two drew five cards from their respective decks, and the duel began.

"So…you want to go first, or should I?" Serenity asked.

"Please, after you," Casey smiled.

"You know that chivalry's dead, right?" Serenity snorted as she looked down at her hand, knowing that going first would prevent her from drawing. _Great…no one I can set up with. Guess I can get the ball rolling somehow._

She placed a monster card from her hand onto the blade of her Duel Disk, making sure that it was vertically-aligned.

"I Normal Summon Gusto Thunbolt!" she yelled.

By Serenity's side, a pale green wolf-like creature creature materialized out of scattered light particles. The beast snarled at Casey, electricity coursing through the large horn emerging from its forehead. Despite this, Serenity's opponent was unconcerned as a screen with two more numbers—the statistics of Gusto Thunbolt—appeared beside him: a level four monster with 1500 attack points and 1200 defense points.

"Not bad," he remarked. "Not bad at all."

"Do you actually think I'm looking for your approval?" Serenity snapped. She looked at the cards in her hand once more before slipping one into a slot on her Duel Disk. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"Then it looks like it's my turn," Casey smirked as he drew a card. His smirk grew wider upon seeing what it was; a green card bearing the image of a map. "Aw…sorry, looks like this duel might be over."

Serenity only narrowed her eyes.

"First, I'll Normal Summon a little friend of mine," Casey said as he placed one of his yellowed monster cards on his Duel Disk, "Red-Eyes Black Chick!"

A small crimson egg rose from the ground, a crack quickly forming in the top of its shell. The shell soon broke, and a small dark-colored beak poked out. Serenity narrowed her eyes; the monster looked vaguely familiar.

"Next, I'll activate the spell card Ancient Rules!" Casey cried. "This lets me Special Summon any level five or higher Normal Monster from my hand, and I'm going to be bringing out one of the big ones!"

As he slipped the map card into his Duel Disk, a large image of it materialized on his field. A rather strange-looking reptilian creature emerged from the spell card, resembling a large rock with a pair of large claw-tipped arms and a thick purple tail. From the front of the rock emerged a bulbous avian head, and two bat-like wings protruded from the top.

"Say hello to Meteor Dragon!" Casey cried.

"That looks more like a turtle than a dragon," Serenity pointed out.

"Yeah, but it does have 1800 attack points, which should be enough to put down your doggy," Casey replied. "But I'm not done there. I activate the effect of Red-Eyes Black Chick! If it's on my field, I can tribute it to Special Summon a special pal from my hand."

He dramatically raised his hand to the sky as he continued.

"Let's show her what we've got! Come on out…Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

Red-Eyes Black Chick vanished in a burst of light, and a massive reptile rose from the ground in its place with sharply-pointed claws and beak glistening in the sunlight. True to its name, the dragon's pitch black skin and crimson eyes showed prominently as it let out a mighty roar. Serenity's eyes widened, recognizing the monster as the one Casey had shown her earlier.

"That's right!" Casey laughed, seeing the shock on his opponent's face. "One of the oldest, most iconic cards in all of Duel Monsters is the ace of my deck. With that in mind, I think I'll save the best for last. Meteor Dragon, attack her Gusto Thunbolt!"

The turtle-like dragon took to the skies (albeit with a struggle due to the nature of its boulder-like body), then suddenly plummeted down towards Thunbolt with frightening speed. Before Serenity or her monster could react, Meteor Dragon's devastating body slam had destroyed Gusto Thunbolt, kicking up an explosion of dust in the process. Serenity grimaced as her life points fell to 3700, and she tensed even more upon seeing Red-Eyes' 2400 ATK.

"All right, big guy…attack her directly!" Casey cried. Red-Eyes reared back and opened its mouth, revealing a growing fire within. "Inferno Fire Blast!"

 _Crap!_ Serenity thought as Red-Eyes spat a massive fireball directly at her. _What am I going to…oh, duh, my trap card._

"I activate the trap, Phoenix Wing Wind Blast!" Serenity cried as her face-down card flipped over, revealing a dark purple color. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can target one card on the field and send it back to the top of its owner's deck!"

A massive gust of wind erupted from the card, strong enough to rip Red-Eyes' fireball into nothing. Even Red-Eyes itself was caught up in the gust, carried into the air and back towards its owner.

"Not bad, but…well, I hate to tell you this, but it's not going to save you," Casey shook his head. With a smirk, he held up a spell card. "I activate Flash Fusion!"

A sudden burst of light erupted from Casey's field, and when it faded, Casey's two dragons were lifted into the air. The two beasts began to circle one another as each transformed into particles of energy.

"Fusion?" Serenity blinked.

"Yep!" Casey grinned. "This card lets me send monsters from my field to the graveyard to summon a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck. Soooo…say hello to the one and only Meteor Black Dragon!"

The particles in the energy vortex soon formed a colossal dragon whose body seemed to be made of molten rock. The ground shook when it landed, and its massive jaws opened to release a terrifying roar. Serenity, however, was more concerned with its ATK value.

"You're kidding, right?!" she balked. "That thing has 3500 attack points?!"

"Looks like it," Casey smirked. Before he could say anything else, however, a dark portal opened on Serenity's side of the field. "Wait, what?"

An avian beast emerged from Serenity's graveyard portal, feathered wings flapping as it galloped through the air on its lion-like paws.

"The monster I discarded was Gusto Griffin," Serenity explained as the regal beast circled about. "And when he's sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can Special Summon one Gusto monster from my deck. So, I'll summon Gusto Gulldo in defense position!"

Gusto Griffin flapped its wings, and the resulting wind somehow brought forth a small turquoise bird. It took its place on the field, wings folded across its chest as its 500 DEF flashed across one of Casey's screens.

"Okay, I'll be the first to admit it…I underestimated you," Casey said. "All right, Meteor Black dragon, attack Gusto Gulldo!"

The molten beast complied, striking down Gulldo with one brutal blow. The wind that generated from Gulldo's destruction, however, formed into another bird, this one even smaller and with a darker shade of green.

"When Gusto Gulldo is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a level two or lower Gusto monster from my deck," Serenity explained. "And when Gusto Egul here is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a level four or lower non-Tuner Gusto monster from my deck. See how this works?"

"Ooh, I do indeed," Casey whistled. "That is some _nice_ defense. Not much I can do about that, so I'll just end my turn here."

"Okay, then," Serenity said. She looked down at her deck. _If I'm going to get this guy off my back, I need to pull this off right now._ _Come on, deck, give me something…_

She drew her card, and when she looked at it, she smiled. It was a monster card, bearing the image of a girl with green-and-red hair and white-lined robes.

 _That'll do._

"I Normal Summon Pilica, Descendant of Gusto!" Serenity yelled, the robed girl appearing on the field. "When she's Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one Wind-attribute Tuner monster from my graveyard in defense position, and I'm picking Gusto Gulldo!"

Pilica waved her bird-tipped wooden staff, and Gulldo reappeared on the field by her side.

"Now…this is where you go down," Serenity said darkly. "I Tune Gusto Gulldo with Pilica, Descendant of Gusto!"

The two monsters in question morphed into two triplets of stars, each shooting into the sky and entering a series of rings that materialized in the air. The six stars stationed themselves within the rings, an orange outline of a human-like being forming within them.

"Noble maiden of the wind, rise up and defend your friends with the force of a hurricane!" Serenity chanted. "I Synchro Summon Daigusto Sphreeze!"

The rings faded away, and a woman in white armor and green robes gently floated down on the wind. She slammed the butt of a mechanized staff on the ground, opening a graveyard portal.

"When Daigusto Sphreeze is Synchro Summoned, I can add a Gusto card from my graveyard to my hand," Serenity explained, allowing Pilica to fly back into her hand. "Now, Gusto Egul, attack Meteor Black Dragon!"

"Um…what are you doing?" Casey blinked, noticing that Egul had only 200 ATK, and even the newly-summoned Daigusto Sphreeze had only 2000 ATK. Despite this, Egul bravely charged forth and—as expected—Meteor Black Dragon viciously stamped the bird into the ground. Upon its destruction, however, a giant explosion of wind burst out from underneath the dragon's foot, knocking Casey off his feet and across the ground.

"Ugh…what?!" he cried as he saw his life points fall from 4000 to 700. "What just happened?!"

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Serenity smirked. "As long as Daigusto Sphreeze is on the field, all battle damage that I would have taken from a battle involving a Gusto monster is dealt to you instead. And here comes the level four or lower non-Tuner Gusto monster I promised before; Winda, Priestess of Gusto! Now, Winda, it's your turn to attack!"

Upon reaching the field, a young green-haired girl in brown robes charged forth and allowed Meteor Black Dragon to destroy it. Again, a gust of wind erupted from where Winda was destroyed, again blasting Casey off of his feet and dropping his life points to zero.

"Ugh, finally," Serenity sighed, ignoring the screen with the word 'WINNER' plastered beneath an image of her face.

"Oh, you crafty minx!" Casey laughed. "That has to be one of the best duels I've had in a while! I know you're not too fond of me right now, but I think we should totally hang ou—"

Serenity was already leaving. Her deck was back in her backpack, as was the Duel Disk, and she left the park without a word.

"Well…hate to reign in on a deal," Casey remarked, "but you might just be too good to pass up."

* * *

Elsewhere in Paradise City, a large building with the words "LEO Corporation" and "LID" printed on alternating sides of its hourglass-like structure stood proudly amongst the other, more average buildings that surrounded it. Inside, a bell rang out to signal the end of a class, prompting a variety of students to rise from their desks.

"All right, everyone, good duels today," the teacher said. "Tomorrow, the assignment on the monster card to spell and trap card ratio will be due. See you all then!"

Most of the students began to talk with one another, discussing such topics as the upcoming assignment or favorite deck types. One student, this one a young man with dark hair, left the room without a word.

"Hey, Neil, wait up!" a student with red hair cried as he struggled to catch up to the dark-haired student. "So, what are you doing for the assignment tomorrow? If it's not too much trouble, could we help each other with—"

"Sorry, but you're just a rival in class," Neil said abruptly. "I'm not picking up your slack for you."

"Aw, you're not going to make any friends like that," the red-haired student groaned. "If you want to make it in the business, you need to make friends."

"Maybe later, Taylor," Neil said abruptly. "Right now I want to focus on getting better."

"Really want to go for that fame, huh?" Taylor asked.

 _I'm not even going to dignify that with a response,_ Neil thought. _I have more important things to worry about than fame._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Serenity spent her first night in Paradise City staring at the skyline from her bedroom window. She wanted to see the sunset, but all that she saw was a plethora of video billboards promoting the Leo Institute of Dueling. With a muffled thud, her head fell back into her pillow.

 _I want to go home,_ she thought. _I don't care what the law says, I want to go home._

* * *

The sun reached through the window and awakened Serenity with only its presence. Before she could get out of bed, a woman burst through the door with a plate of food in her hands.

"Good morning, Little Wren!" the woman cried cheerfully. "Eat up, it's a big day today!"

"Ugh…what day is it again?" Serenity groaned as she rubbed her eyes.

"Why, it's your first day of school!" the woman answered.

"…crap," Serenity sighed. "Okay, I'll be ready in a couple minutes."

"All right, Little Wren!" the woman smiled.

Serenity stopped.

"Mrs. Blake?" Serenity said. "Please don't call me 'Little Wren' again."

Mrs. Blake's normally bubbly disposition became grave.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize that it must be hard for you, hearing that nickname from me."

"Look, it's just…I'm not comfortable right now," Serenity sighed. "Just…just don't use that nickname, okay?"

"I understand," Mrs. Blake nodded. "I'll leave you alone while you eat. Miles will take you to school when you're done."

"Okay, thanks," Serenity nodded. She swallowed her first bite with a large gulp, followed by a drink of water. The more of her nerves that she could drown out, the better.

* * *

Moments later, Serenity arrived at a spiraling silver tower surrounded by holographic screens. While one would have assumed this school to be more prestigious than the Leo Institute of Dueling, Serenity noticed that fewer students were present.

"All right, here we are," Mr. Blake declared as Serenity got out of the car. "If you need us for anything, we're only a call away."

"Okay, thanks," Serenity said. With that, she slammed the door and turned to the school building. This was it. She could do this. She could do this.

"Well, hello there."

…she could _not_ do this.

"Ugh," Serenity groaned as Casey came into view, "please tell me you're not going to school here."

"Okay," Casey smirked. "I'm not going to school here."

An awkward pause hovered between them.

"…you're a student here, aren't you?" Serenity sighed.

"I will be, but yes," Casey smiled. "First semester and all. And it looks to me like you're in the same boat. The gods must want us to be together."

 _More like they want to make my life miserable,_ Serenity thought bitterly.

Before Casey could deliver more pick-up lines, a woman came out of the front door of the tower. She wore a long silver coat, and her dark purple hair was tied back into a ponytail. Beside her was a blonde-haired man with an excited smile on his face.

"Hello, everyone," the woman smiled. "Are you all the new students for this semester?"

Most of the group nodded.

"Excellent," she said. "I'm Professor Essie, headmistress of this little school here. Let me be the first to welcome you to the Specialized Establishment for Lucrative Learning. Or, if you're the acronym type…"

She snapped her fingers, and five letters slid across the holographic screens: S.P.E.L.L.

"Pretty fancy, huh?" Casey nudged Serenity as impressed murmurs rippled through the prospective students. Serenity didn't respond.

"Now, if you'll follow me, we—" Essie began, but the sight of an approaching man in a suit stopped her. "Ugh…on second thought, I need to take care of something. I'll leave you with my friend here. He'll give you a tour."

She went off to confront the suited man, and her associate clapped his hands together with a widening smile.

"Hello, students! My name is Professor Stanley Clark, and it looks like I'll be taking you all on a tour of our facility. If you'll follow me, we'll get started."

The group moved into the tower, Casey smirking as he stuck close to Serenity. Though Serenity did her best to tune out her surroundings, wishing that she could simply click her heels and magically leave, voices nonetheless entered her ears.

"Hey, did you hear about the duel between the Sledgehammer and Yuya Sakaki?"

"What kind of summon was that? I've never heard of anything that lets you bring out that many monsters from your hand at once!"

"These students look great, don't they?" Professor Clark asked, though he seemed to be staring off into space. "They might be the hope we needed, you know."

"Hey, is he talking to himself?" Casey whispered.

"Don't know, don't care," Serenity hissed. "Leave me alone."

"Sorry, can't," Casey shrugged.

"Didn't we have an agreement about this?" Serenity snapped.

"We did, but I decided that you're too good to ignore," Casey admitted. "I mean, when I said that our duel was one of the best I've had, I meant it. You're seriously good, and I seriously want to know more about you."

"Tough," Serenity spat. "I'm not interested."

"Come on, isn't there anything I can do to get you interested?" Casey pleaded. "Can we at least have lunch together? I—"

"Okay, students, everyone quiet down!" Professor Clark said cheerfully. The group now stood in front of what was unmistakably a dueling arena. There were several arenas that dotted the space the students were in, though not very many. "These are our dueling facilities. Here, you can have exhibition matches, assigned duels, or just duels for fun."

He turned to the group and smiled. He looked to the side for a moment, then, looked back at his students.

"Now…I'm going to ask you a very serious question," Clark said. "Some young duelists have some confidence in their skills. So, I would like to ask: which among you is the best?"

A few hands shot up, but Serenity's was not one of them. Her arms were crossed, her position firm.

Until a hand shoved her forward.

"Ah, we have a volunteer!" Clark grinned. "Young lady, what's your name?"

"Uh…Serenity, sir," the unwilling volunteer said after she recovered from the initial stumble of being pushed. "Serenity Dovelan."

"Ms. Dovelan," Professor Clark said, "would you say that you are the best duelist here?"

"Well, uh, I wouldn't say that, or that I'm even good at dueling at all, but—"

"Well, as modest as you are, someone clearly thinks that you're good," Clark chuckled. Serenity glared behind her at Casey, who simply shrugged with as innocent a smile as he could muster. "Would you mind if I tested their opinions, Ms. Dovelan?"

"Wait, hold on, you want to duel me?" Serenity balked. "Right here, right now?"

"Certainly," Clark nodded. "Don't worry about failure, for it is only what makes you stronger. Now, come with me, and we'll take our places."

"You got this," Casey whispered. Serenity didn't think so, as her nervous gulp indicated.

Serenity and Professor Clark took their places, and brought out their respective Duel Disks. Each deck was shuffled, and a life point counter appeared on a large screen above the two duelists, indicating who had what amount of life points.

"Let us duel," Clark said with his ever-present smile. "The first move will be yours."

"Ugh, great," Serenity sighed. She looked down at her hand. _Wonderful. No Gulldo, Egul, or Winda. Well…I've got something, at least. Might as well use it._

She placed two cards face-down on her disk, one monster and one spell or trap card.

"That'll be the end of my turn," Serenity said. "Your move, Professor."

 _She's got this,_ Casey thought with a smirk.

"All right, then…I draw!" Clark declared, dramatically drawing a card. He looked at the card he drew: a humanoid monster whose body was half-green and half-brown. "It's time, old friend."

"Uh, sir, who…?" Serenity tried to ask, but the professor seemed to ignore her.

"I Normal Summon…Elemental Hero Woodsman!" he cried, and the green-and-brown humanoid appeared with a dramatic stomp. Although its ATK was only 1000, Serenity narrowed her eyes when Professor Clark placed a pair of face-down cards behind Woodsman.

"And now," Clark said, raising his hand dramatically. "I…end my turn."

The student onlookers were abuzz with confusion. Casey's smirk had faded somewhat, his instincts telling him that something was wrong. Serenity was on a similar wavelength, grimacing at the two face-down cards as she conducted her draw phase.

 _I'm going to have to step up my game,_ she thought. _I remember Elemental Heroes. They hit hard and fast…so I need to cut them off before they can get going._

"I'll start off by Flip Summoning my face-down monster," she announced, revealing it to be a green-haired young boy in robes. "Meet Kamui, Hope of Gusto!"

As Kamui rose with a yawn, a gust of wind generated beside him and took the form of Gusto Gulldo.

"When Kamui is flipped face-up, I can Special Summon a Gusto Tuner monster from my deck," Serenity explained.

"I see," Clark remarked. "I assume you'll be performing a Synchro Summon next?"

 _He's got a trap waiting for me. He wants me to Synchro Summon._ Serenity thought, her body tensing. _Might as well spring the trap…not much else I can do._

"Fine," she growled. "I Tune Gusto Gulldo with Kamui, Hope of Gusto!"

The two monsters soared into the air and formed a series of rings once more. With five stars aligned, a large avian shape began to form.

"Take flight, master of the wind! Let no enemy keep you from your friends!" Serenity cried. "I Synchro Summon Daigusto Gulldos!"

The avian shape appeared on the field, resembling a larger version of Gulldo with a green-haired human on top. Professor Clark raised an eyebrow at its 2200 ATK, recognizing it as a threat.

"Now, I activate Daigusto Gulldos' effect!" Serenity declared, and the large bird took that as its cue to flap its wings. A large wind was whipped up, forcing some students to shield themselves and forcing two cards from Serenity's graveyard to float back into her deck. "By shuffling two Gusto monsters from my graveyard back into my deck, I can destroy one monster you control!"

The wind that Daigusto Gulldos had generated quickly spun into a small hurricane. Elemental Hero Woodsman stood its ground, clenching its fists as it awaited the assault.

But it never came. An egg-like barrier of energy formed around Woodsman, dissipating the wind.

"Huh?! How did you…?"

"I'm afraid I activated a trap card, Breakthrough Skill," Clark explained as one of his back row disappeared, never losing his smile. "It negates one of your monsters' effects until the end of this turn."

 _I knew it._ Serenity gritted her teeth. "All right, then. Daigusto Gulldos, attack Elemental Hero Woodsman!"

"Sorry about this," Clark smiled as his second face-down card flipped up, generating a wall with a large electrical 'H' on it. "I activate the trap Hero Barrier to negate your attack!"

Daigusto Gulldos promptly flew into the wall, forcing the avian beast to flap back to Serenity's side of the field with a shake of its head.

"Great," she grimaced. "I end my turn."

"That was a bit mean of me, wasn't it?" Clark commented as he drew his card. "Sorry, but I needed Woodsman to remain on the field. And here's why: during my Standby Phase, his effect activates and lets me add a copy of the spell card Polymerization from my deck to my hand."

 _This looks familiar,_ Serenity thought with a sidelong glare at Casey, whose smirk had morphed into a frown of worry by this point.

"Now, I'll activate Polymerization and send Woodsman and an Elemental Hero from my hand to the graveyard!" Clark announced, and Woodsman vanished. A large armored monster appeared in its place, sporting intimidating cannon-like structures on its wrists. "This will allow me to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Gaia!"

The moment Gaia landed on the field, it aimed its cannons at Daigusto Gulldos and shot a long cable. The cable ensnared Daigusto Gulldos and surrounded it with a purple glow, one that traveled along the cable and into the body of Elemental Hero Gaia.

"When Gaia is Fusion Summoned, I can cut the attack points of one monster you control in half, then add that same amount to Gaia's own attack points!" Clark explained.

Serenity watched in horror as Daigusto Gulldos' ATK fell to 1100, with Elemental Hero Gaia's ATK rising from 2200 to 3300.

"If you've been paying attention," Clark continued, "you would have noticed that the monster I sent from my hand to the graveyard was Elemental Hero Shadow Mist. When he is sent to the graveyard, I may add an Elemental Hero monster from my deck to my hand, and I think I'll take the liberty of Normal Summoning it as well. Enter, Elemental Hero Ice Edge!"

Prof. Clark's newest monster was rather small: a small blue-skinned humanoid with armor that resembled glaciers of ice.

"Should I keep going? Oh, why not?" Clark said with a shrug. "I activate the spell card Miracle Fusion! By banishing two Elemental Hero monsters from my graveyard, I can Fusion Summon another Elemental Hero Fusion Monster! I think this time, I'll go for Elemental Hero Escuridao!"

A mass of darkness swirled up to Elemental Hero Gaia's colossal height, soon forming itself into a thin humanoid with a spiky head and four large wing-like protrusions on its back. Serenity gulped. This was looking quite bad.

"Now, I'll activate the effect of Elemental Hero Ice Edge!" Clark cried. "By discarding one card, I can have Ice Edge attack directly this turn! And, since the card I discarded was an Elemental Hero monster, Elemental Hero Escuridao gains a hundred attack points for every Elemental Hero monster in my graveyard!"

Once Prof. Clark's card—a fire-based monster in crimson armor—was safely in the graveyard, Ice Edge formed a large spear out of ice and slammed it on the ground. At the same time, Escuridao's ATK rose from 2500 to 2600.

"Now, first, I'll attack directly with Elemental Hero Ice Edge!"

Ice Edge used its spear to pole vault over Daigusto Gulldos, much to the bird's confusion. Without a second's hesitation, the icy warrior struck Serenity with a flying kick, knocking her to the floor as her life points fell from 4000 to 3200. With icy spear still in hand, Ice Edge casually plunged it into Serenity's face-down card, destroying a trap labeled "Blessings for Gusto."

"Once Elemental Hero Ice Edge has dealt battle damage from a direct attack, I can have it destroy one spell or trap card on the field," Clark explained. "Now, Elemental Hero Gaia, attack Daigusto Gulldos!"

The heavily-armed behemoth shot several rocky missiles from its cannons, causing several explosions around where Daigusto Gulldos once was. When the smoke cleared, Serenity's monster was gone, and her despair heightened upon seeing her life points fall to 1000.

"And, last but certainly not least, Elemental Hero Escuridao will attack directly!" Clark cried.

As the shadowy creature glided over, Serenity struggled to rise from the previous blow. The monster stopped once it reached her, looking down. Still on the floor, Serenity glared upward. Escuridao beckoned with one hand, asking her to rise.

"Just finish it," Serenity spat. "Stupid freak."

Escuridao slowly raised one clawed hand, then brought it down on Serenity and tore away her last thousand life points. She tumbled across the floor as the image of Escuridao vanished alongside its fellow Elemental Heroes, but not before giving its foe a somber look.

"Serenity!" Casey cried, leaping into the arena and dashing to her side. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Shut up!" Serenity roared, pushing him away as she struggled to rise. Casey tried to take her arm around his shoulders, but she slapped it away again. "I told you to leave me alone!"

"Miss Dovelan?" Clark called as he walked over. "Everything all right?"

"Fine," Serenity snarled, clutching her jacket around herself. "I'm fine. Everything's fine."

"You shouldn't be so down on yourself," Clark smiled. "You did quite well with what you had. And I'm certain I'm not the only one who thinks so."

He looked over to one side, though it was not the side the remaining students were on. Some of them frowned and turned to leave.

"Oh, now, don't worry!" Clark said rather loudly. "That's what S.P.E.L.L is for! You might not do as well as you'd like today, but with our help, you can become extraordinary tomorrow! Now, everyone, follow me and I'll show you to your dorms!"

* * *

Although most of S.P.E.L.L's building was rather extravagant, the dorms were comparatively simple. They were simply a series of doors on either side of a hallway, though the doors were decorated with ornate carvings of suns, moons, and planets.

"The girls' dorms are on this floor," Clark said. By this point, only a few students were left, and they were also looking dissatisfied with what they saw. "Once they're all settled in, I'd like the boys to follow me to the upper floor, where their dorms are located. I'm sure you're all ready to learn about dueling today, but Professor Essie and I need to attend to some business. We should be ready at lunch, so until then, pick your dorms and get ready for a wonderful semester!"

Professor Clark took the male students away, and as he did, Serenity went over and picked out a door with a bright sun on it.

"I think I might like this one," she mused. "Anyone else want…?"

She looked around and found that she was the only female student left.

 _Okay, something weird is going on here,_ she thought. _I'm going to need to talk to Professor Essie._

* * *

"Please, everyone, I really think we could do some good together!" Professor Essie pleaded to a crowd of student backs. The majority of students who had come were now leaving, some throwing disgusted looks at the school's dueling arena. The professor sighed and slumped to the floor. Professor Clark came to her, his typical smile replaced with a look of concern.

"I guess this is it," Essie sighed.

"What do you mean?"

Serenity approached the two professors and was met with two looks of surprise.

"Why didn't you go with the others?" Essie asked.

"Should I have?" Serenity raised an eyebrow.

"Well, not if you don't want to, but…you see…ugh, how do I explain this?" Essie huffed.

"Explain what?" Serenity asked, leaning on the wall. "I've got time to hear whatever explanations you have for the random loss of students."

"It wasn't random," Essie said morosely. "The students just didn't see us as being good enough. They're not the first, but they may be the last."

"Taryn and I had applied to LID some years ago," Clark explained, gesturing to his colleague. "For one reason or another, we weren't able to make it in. And, on top of that, the school confiscated some cards of ours for 'research' purposes."

"I'm sorry, _what_?" Serenity balked. "They can do that?"

"If you've been in Paradise City for more than five minutes," Essie began, "then you'd know that the Leo Institute of Dueling is the city's premier school. After all, why wouldn't it be? It's connected to the Leo Corporation, meaning that they have power and status that no other school—or business, for that matter—can touch."

"But, anyway," Clark said, "we had started this school a year ago after LID rejected us. We didn't intend it as a gesture of spite. We wanted to extend our hand to the students that LID wouldn't pick up; the ones who didn't have the skill or the money needed to go. We firmly believed that being a great duelist could be possible for anyone, regardless of talent or what have you."

"The only problem is that LID has established a strong foothold as the best school in the city, if not the country or even the world," Essie added. "They focus on Action Duels, which we found a little silly. But, since Action Duels are the so-called 'latest evolution in dueling,' everyone wants to give them a whirl…which means everyone applies to LID, leaving our school in the dust."

"Professor Essie?" Serenity ventured. "That man you were talking to before Professor Clark started the tour…was he from Leo Corporation?"

Essie blanched at the thought, but nodded.

"What was he doing here?" Serenity asked.

"He was here to talk business…or so he said," Clark replied. "Over the past year, Leo Corporation made several offers to buy S.P.E.L.L and use it as an expansion of LID. We've refused every time, but lately we've found our options dwindling."

"What was his name?" Serenity asked.

"The Leo Corporation representative? Ivan Gats," Essie answered. "Why?"

Serenity's eyes narrowed. She knew that name.

"Ms. Dovelan, is something wrong?" Clark asked.

"Yes…and that something is what Leo Corporation is doing," Serenity growled. "Look, it doesn't matter what your options are. You have to keep going!"

"With no students?" Essie snorted.

"No, listen, hear me out!" Serenity pleaded. "You said you wanted to help people who wanted to duel but didn't have what it took to get into LID? I fall into that category. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one. Gats and LID can't have their way anymore. They need to be shown that the smaller people _will_ fight back if you push them too hard."

"But—"

"With all due respect, _no buts_!" Serenity interrupted. "Consider me your first student. And I'm going to see to it that I won't be your only student for long."

A pair of quick knocks on the wall behind her alerted Serenity to the presence behind her.

It was Casey.

"Sorry, couldn't help but overhear," he smiled.

"How long have you been listening…?" Serenity asked slowly.

"Does it matter?" Casey shrugged. Serenity made a mental note to file a restraining order later. "I mean, I'm already here…as the second student of S.P.E.L.L."

"What, you? You've got to be—" Serenity cut herself off as she came to a realization. "Ugh…fine, but if I catch you hitting on me again…"

"Relax, I'm on your side," Casey assured her. Serenity only crossed her arms and scowled. "I'm serious! Look, I want to help you, really!"

"I'll believe that if I see it," Serenity growled.

"Now, now, calm down," Professor Clark said, though his smile was returning.

"You'll really do this, Ms. Dovelan?" Essie asked.

"Please, just call me Serenity," the girl in question said. "But, yes, I will. I may not be big on dueling, but I know right from wrong."

"And I'm in, too," Casey announced proudly. "For the same reasons, of course."

Serenity just rolled her eyes.

"Th-thank you…both of you," Essie smiled. "I guess I should welcome you to S.P.E.L.L at this point."

"You might want to save the speech for a little longer," Serenity said. "We need more students."

"We'll do what we can, but LID has a monopoly on the school system," Clark pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Serenity said. "We _are_ going to do this, and we _will_ make it happen."

She looked out of the front door, the hourglass tower of LID dominating the horizon. She narrowed her eyes. That was going to change.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The Leo Institute of Dueling was said to be one of the top dueling schools in the country, if not the world. Just looking at the hourglass-shaped building gave the impression that its level of technology was above that of its peers. It was no surprise that this was the case, however, as the school was run by Leo Corporation, the company that advanced dueling technology by leaps and bounds with their idea of integrating mass into the solid holograms that every Duel Disk created.

This amount of status, however, was not lost on LID students.

"Tell me again!" cried a student with layered blonde-and-brown hair. "Who's going to be the top at LID?"

"SYLVIO!" cried a trio of other students, each one dramatically gesturing to the first student.

"Yes, yes!" Sylvio swooned as he bathed in their adoration while remaining ignorant of whether or not it was faked. "And who's the best duelist at LID?"

"SYLVIO!" his followers screamed again with another dramatic gesture.

Sylvio dramatically climbed up on the table, spreading his arms wide and showing off his white-and-red school uniform for all to see.

"That's right!" Sylvio grinned. "I, Sylvio Sawatari, possess the skill and brains to win! I, Sylvio Sawatari, will climb on top of the dueling world! And it will be the name of Sylvio Sawatari that all future generations will hear as the name of the world's top duelist!"

"Are you finished? You're standing in my eggs."

Sylvio stopped advertising himself long enough to look down at a scowling Neil. Upon further inspection at his feet, Sylvio found that one foot was indeed lodged in Neil's plate of scrambled eggs. Taylor, sitting by Neil's side, simply shrugged.

"Oh, terribly sorry," Sylvio said as he removed his foot. "Shall I—"

"And take your cheering section somewhere else," Neil interrupted. "I don't want to lose what little of my lunch I've had."

With a glare, Sylvio snapped his fingers and took his followers away.

"Man," Taylor groaned, "people like him give the LID student body a bad name."

"It does a good enough job of that without his help," Neil said as he took his footprint-ridden eggs and proceed to dump them into the nearest trash can.

"Aw, come on, Neil, you can't really mean that!" Taylor said. "Okay, granted, a few students here get a bit full of themselves…"

"Only a few?" Neil snorted.

"Okay, I get your point," Taylor sighed. "But you still came here, not to another dueling school with more likable students."

"I applied to LID because I heard it put out the best duelists," Neil explained as he sat back down.

"Yeah, exactly!" Taylor said. "I mean, I get that it could be better, but nobody's perfect, right? Trust me, from what I've seen of LID, it'll all be worth it."

Neil just rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Anyone want to come to our school?" Serenity cried, standing on a sidewalk and holding up a large homemade sign with 'S.P.E.L.L' written on it in marker. "Come to S.P.E.L.L! It's affordable! Students are great! Well…such as they are."

She added a glare to her last sentence, sending it towards Casey. The latter was also on the sidewalk with a sign, but he seemed busy chatting up some passing girls. With a shake of her head, Serenity slipped her sign underneath her arm and set her sights on another location. Casey, realizing that his target was leaving, quickly ended his conversation and followed.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"To do what I came out here for," Serenity shot back.

"Hey, come on, I was telling those girls about our school!" Casey insisted.

Serenity stopped and turned to glare at him.

"I'm not stupid," she snarled. "You say you want to help, then you start hitting on the first female thing you see. I know liars and hypocrites when I see them."

"I'm not a—" Casey began, but cut himself off. "Okay, seriously, what do I have to do to get you to trust me?! I'm on your side!"

"Then act like it," Serenity spat. "Or, if you don't feel like applying effort to anything that doesn't get you in bed, then just leave."

"Wait, you're saying…you really think I'm that shallow?" Casey laughed. "Yeah, I talk to a lot of girls, but I have my reasons. For examp—"

"I couldn't care less about you or whatever 'reasons' you have for being a perverted stalker," Serenity spat.

"I'm sorry, what?" Casey sputtered. "You're taking this way too personally! I have done nothing perverted to you!"

"You just _happened_ to have a spare Duel Disk that just _happened_ to be exactly my size?" Serenity growled, holding up her wrist.

"One size fits all," Casey shrugged. "And you never know when you'll need a spare of anything, right?"

Serenity simply rolled her eyes and walked away. With a frown, Casey pursued her.

"Hey, come on," he pleaded. "Are you jealous that I was talking with other girls?"

 _Say nothing. Just say nothing,_ Serenity thought with an irritated sigh. _He'll just interpret anything you say as a 'yes,' so there's no point in saying anything._

"Come on, talk to me!" Casey said. "Seriously, what do I have to do to get you interested? How am I supposed to prove to you that I'm not as bad as you think I am if you won't even give me a—"

Serenity suddenly stopped.

"Wait," she said, holding up one hand.

"What?"

"On your left."

Casey looked, and saw a young man—not much older than he and Serenity were—trudging down the sidewalk across the street. His right arm was bent in a rather awkward manner, remaining close to his side. Cradled in his left arm was a battered and slightly soaked Duel Disk.

"That guy?" Casey whispered, pointing to him.

"Don't point, you moron!" Serenity hissed. The young man with the bent arm stopped and turned his head slightly, eyeing them from out of the corner of his eye. "Well, no time like the present, I guess."

She quickly looked both ways and made to cross the street.

"Hey, wait up!" Casey cried, stumbling after her and narrowly dodging an oncoming car in the process.

The stranger smirked and leaned on a wall.

"Hello," he said.

"Hey," Serenity nodded as she approached him. "Is that your Duel Disk?"

By this time, Casey had managed to catch up to Serenity, deciding to spend time catching his breath instead.

"It's mine," the stranger said with a one-shoulder shrug, looking down at his ruined piece of machinery. "But a 'Duel Disk' is probably not what it's called anymore."

"What happened to it?" Serenity asked. "And, if you don't mind my asking, what happened to your arm?"

"And you yell at me for pointing after questions like those?" Casey muttered.

"I've…been in some accidents," the stranger said. Serenity waited a moment, expecting him to say more. Nothing came.

"Oh, uh…sorry to hear that," she stammered. "I'm Serenity, by the way."

"Dylan," the stranger nodded, pointing to himself.

"Nice to meet you," Serenity said. "Say, listen, are you interested in—"

"I'm Casey, by the way," Serenity's follower interrupted. "Just wanted to, you know, remind you that I'm still here."

"Please don't," Serenity sighed. "Anyway, I'm from this dueling school called S.P.E.L.L, and it could really use some students. I mean, I don't know if you're already in a school, but…"

"I can go," Dylan did another one-shoulder shrug. "That is, if I can live there for a while?"

"Sure, we've got dorms," Serenity said. "And we might be able to get you a new Duel Disk, too."

"Can I also have a phone?" Dylan asked. "I'll need to call my family."

"Oh, absolutely!" Serenity nodded. "Come on, I'll take you to S.P.E.L.L."

"Uh, don't you mean 'we' will take him to S.P.E.L.L?" Casey asked.

"That would imply that more than one person is interested in doing the work," Serenity shot back.

Dylan just snickered as Serenity led him along.

* * *

Professor Essie slammed the phone down into its receiver and buried her head in her hands. Clark frowned. It was rare to see her so distressed.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"Can we talk about it later?" Essie sighed. "I need some time to figure this out."

Clark nodded and left the office without a word. Once outside, he looked up at the ceiling.

"I wish I shared your confidence," he said to the air. He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I have no doubt in her abilities, but…"

"Professor Clark!"

Serenity and Casey, with Dylan in tow, quickly approached the professor. Clark's characteristic smile returned as he beheld them.

"Welcome back, you two," he said. "And who might this be?"

"Dylan," the newcomer said, returning the smile. At the sight of it, however, Clark's smile faded slightly. Something was off about the boy's smile.

"He said he'll attend S.P.E.L.L," Serenity announced. "He does want a new Duel Disk and a phone, though."

"Yes, I can see the need for the former," Clark remarked as he inspected Dylan's former Duel Disk. "As for the phone, you should ask one of your new friends about it. I'm sure they would be willing to lend you their cell phones for a moment or two, but you should choose a dorm first. Then, we can get started on the paperwork."

"I can do that," Dylan said with yet another one-shoulder shrug.

"Very good," Clark said with a nod. "Casey, would you mind showing Dylan to a dorm?"

"Sure, happy to help," Casey grinned, casting a wink at Serenity. She simply glared at him, crossing her arms with a huff. With a shrug, Casey took Dylan away.

"Now, then," Clark said. "Serenity, may I have a word with you?"

"Sure, what about?" Serenity asked.

"I wanted to ask how you felt about this idea of yours," Clark replied. "Do you really think you can save this school?"

Serenity frowned.

"Honestly, Professor? I don't know," she said. "But I'm willing to try."

"That's all well and good, but…well, since this was your plan to begin with, I may as well give you the full details," Clark sighed. "You see, Professor Essie was on the phone with Mr. Gats today."

"What did he want?" Serenity tensed.

"He is persistent in his offers to purchase the school," Clark said. "Taryn told him that we have students who are, and I quote, 'adamant in their position against the merging of S.P.E.L.L and LID.' Gats, however, suggested that we let the cards decide the fate of the school."

"Are you saying…?"

"Yes," Clark nodded. "In several days time, one student from S.P.E.L.L will participate in a duel against a student from LID. That duel will decide the outcome. If the S.P.E.L.L student wins, then our school will remain as it is. But, if the LID student wins, then S.P.E.L.L will be bought and converted into a facility of LID' choosing."

"Great," Serenity sighed. "It always goes back to dueling."

"That's simply the world we live in, as strange as it is," Clark said. "On the bright side, we no longer have to deal solely with business politics."

"I guess," Serenity grimaced.

Clark smiled.

"You're a bright young lady," he said. "I have no doubt that you can help us through this."

"Yeah," Serenity said morosely. "Let's hope so."

* * *

"All right, here you go," Casey said, gesturing to a dorm. "Might be a little small, but it's not too shabby."

Dylan stared at the door for a moment before turning to Casey.

"Can I borrow a phone?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, sure," Casey said, fumbling through his pocket. He eventually pulled out a small flip-phone. "Sorry, not really able to grab the latest model or whatever."

"Doesn't matter to me," Dylan said with another one of his one-shoulder shrugs.

"Cool," Casey nodded. "All right, I'm going to go check on Serenity. Let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

Dylan nodded, and Casey left. The new student leaned on the wall as he dialed in the desired number, smirking as he held the phone to his ear.

"Hello," he said, his smirk growing decidedly wicked. "It's been a while, hasn't it? What with my being dead and all."

He began to stroll down the hall as the person on the other end made a frantic reply.

"Oh, don't bother looking for me," Dylan said. "I'll find you. And then I can show you what a dead person really looks like."

A click. Dylan frowned as he closed Casey's phone.

"Well, _someone_ has stopped being any fun," he pouted. "All the same, there's more than one way to skin a cat."

* * *

Serenity sat at the door to S.P.E.L.L, arms wrapped around her knees. In spite of Clark's encouraging words, the idea of dueling a representative from LID weighed heavily on her. She had no idea what Dylan was capable of, and Casey could not be trusted, so—by the process of elimination—that left her as S.P.E.L.L's representative duelist.

The gods really did have it out for her.

"Hey," Dylan said as he approached.

"Hey," Serenity replied. She looked at the object he held in his left hand. "Got your new Duel Disk, huh?"

"Yeah," Dylan said, looking it over. "It's not bad."

"Good," Serenity sighed.

"You okay?" Dylan asked.

"Not really," Serenity admitted.

"Want to duel?" Dylan asked. "Makes me feel better when I get down."

"I," Serenity began, but stopped. While her first instinct was to refuse, the imminent duel with LID reminded her that she needed practice. "Sure, might as well."

Dylan gave his one-shoulder shrug, and the two headed over to the dueling arena. Once they took their places, Dylan began to slip his new Duel Disk onto his bent arm.

"Uh, are you sure that's a good ide—" Serenity began, noticing Dylan's wincing.

"Don't worry about it!" Dylan grunted, a small twisted smirk appearing on his face. "It tickles."

"Um…okay," Serenity said slowly. "Might as well get started, then."

Each duelist's deck was shuffled, and five cards were drawn. Dylan began with a malicious grin.

"I'll go first," he said. He used his teeth to grab one card out of his hand and drop it onto his Duel Disk. "I Normal Summon Gishki Abyss!"

The first monster on Dylan's field was a blue-skinned humanoid whose head appeared to be a tentacle-mouthed shark.

"When Summoned by any means," Dylan explained, "Gishki Abyss lets me add a Gishki monster with 1000 or fewer defense points from my deck to my hand. I'll pick a little friend named Gishki Vision."

He showed Serenity his new card, a green serpentine monster with a blue-and-gold amulet on its face.

"Now, I'll activate the effects of two monsters in my hand; Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow!" Dylan grinned. "By discarding them, I can add two types of card to my hand. Gishki Shadow lets me add a Ritual Spell card, and Gishki Vision adds a Ritual Monster, but both need to have 'Gishki' in their name."

By dropping the green serpent and a blue reptilian monster into a graveyard portal, Dylan prompted two cards to jut out of his deck: a blue monster card and a spell card with Gishki Vision's amulet on it.

"Wait…Rituals?" Serenity blinked.

"That's right…let me show you how they work," Dylan grinned. "I activate the spell card I added earlier…Gishki Aquamirror!"

The amulet appeared on Dylan's side of the field, generating a faint blue light.

"I can Summon a Ritual Monster from my hand by tributing any number of monsters whose levels add up to the level of the Ritual Monster," he explained. "The monster I want to summon is level six, so I'll tribute the level two Gishki Abyss from my field and the level four Gishki Ariel from my hand."

Gishki Abyss became surrounded by a blue aura, as did a card in Dylan's hand. As the Aquamirror's blue light grew in strength, Abyss and Ariel—transforming from a card into a blue-haired girl in dark clothing—were completely consumed by their auras, seemingly wiping them from existence. The Aquamirror shined brightly as a large black tentacle emerged from within it.

"Prince of the dark oceans, release your wrath and drown out all joyful cries with screams of pain and terror!" Dylan cried, his eyes gleaming madly. "I Ritual Summon Evigishki Gustkraken!"

The black tentacle was soon joined by more of its kind, and soon their owner—a yellow-bodied, green-eyed octopus with a small red reptile astride it—exited the mirror. Upon entering the field, Gustkraken let out a guttural roar, lashing out with two tentacles and snatching two cards from Serenity's hand.

"Hey!" she cried, reaching for her cards but finding herself two slow to retrieve them. "What's the big idea?!"

"When Evigishki Gustkraken is Ritual Summoned," Dylan smirked, "I can look at two random cards in your hand and shuffle one of them back into your deck."

"Well, that's not stupid at all," Serenity growled.

Gustkraken brought the cards over to Dylan, who looked over them for a brief moment.

"Hmm…Monster Reincarnation and—what does this say? Pilica, Descendant of Gusto?" he muttered. "I don't think I like that one. I'll put it back in your deck."

He poked Pilica's card, and as Gustkraken's eyes took on a blue glow, so did Serenity's cards. One of them—a spell card—went back to her hand, but Pilica was thrust back into Serenity's deck.

 _No!_ she thought. _Wonderful. There go my Synchro plans._

"I'll put a card face-down and end my turn," Dylan smirked. "You're up."

"Gee, thanks," Serenity sighed as she drew. "I'll place two cards face-down. That's about it for me."

One face-down monster and a potential spell or trap card appeared on Serenity's side of the field. Dylan grinned. This was going to be more fun than he thought.

"All right, then…my turn," he said as he conducted his draw. The card he drew was another green serpent monster, but this one wielded a spike-tipped chain. "I Normal Summon Gishki Chain!"

The chain-wielding serpent soon materialized onto the field, whipping its weapon about with a snarl.

"When Gishki Chain is Normal Summoned, I can look at the top three cards of my deck." Dylan said. "If there's a Ritual Monster or a Ritual Spell in those three, I can add it to my hand, then put the rest of the cards back on top of my deck in whatever order I choose."

He put the two remaining cards in his hand into his mouth, allowing his one mobile hand to view his deck's next three cards. He grinned at the sight of one, then revealed it: a Ritual Monster, this one a blue-and-yellow serpentine monster with antlers, webbed feet, and bat-like wings. Once the other two cards were back on top of his deck, he took the cards from his hand out of his mouth.

"This is where the fun really starts," Dylan said with his darkest grin yet. "I activate the spell card, Gishki Photomirror!"

Another amulet appeared, this one with fangs surrounding its core.

"I can use this card to bring out another Ritual Monster," he said, "but this one is special. Instead of tributing monsters, Gishki Photomirror lets me pay 500 life points times the level of the monster I want to summon."

"You're just going to give up life points?" Serenity gasped.

"Why not?!" Dylan laughed wildly. "The more pain you're in, the more pressure you're under…that's when your deepest secrets come out! That's when the real you is on the surface!"

Serenity took a step back. Why was no one watching this duel?

"The monster I want to summon this time is level eight," Dylan said, the Photomirror moving to hover over him. "500 times eight is 4000."

"But…that's all your life points!" Serenity cried.

"Not quite," Dylan grinned. "I chain the spell card, Mystik Wok! This lets me tribute one monster and gain life points equal to either its attack points or its defense points, and since I don't need Evigishki Gustkraken anymore, it's time for some calamari!"

A large cauldron appeared around Gustkraken, rising up and swallowing the monster. Despite Gustkraken's cries of pain and protest, it was soon boiled into oblivion. The bubbles from the boiling drifted over Dylan and popped, releasing a small shower of water over him that raised his life points from 4000 to 6400.

And then the Photomirror drifted down and attached itself to Dylan's chest.

The amulet glowed with a bright blue light, and Dylan's life points shot down to 2400 as he screamed in agony. He fell onto one knee as his cards fell out of his hand, the Photomirror's light becoming brighter. Dylan slowly picked up his cards as he got up, snickering all the while.

"You're insane," Serenity gasped.

"You really think so?" Dylan replied with a smile. "Let's see what my new friend has to say about that. Come on out, Evigishki Levianima!"

The serpentine beast glided out of the Photomirror, its body curling around as it brandished a gold-lined sword.

"Now, we'll get to the best part!" Dylan cackled. "Evigishki Levianima, attack her face-down monster!"

Levianima surged forth, its sword taking on a sapphire glow. The top card of Dylan's deck gained a similar glow.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Dylan smirked. "When Evigishki Levianima declares an attack, its effect activates and lets me draw a card. If that card is a Gishki monster, I can look at one random card in your hand."

He drew his card, and with a grin, revealed it to be a second copy of Gishki Vision.

"Well, look at that," Dylan snickered. "It's a Gishki monster, which means I can take a little peek at your hand."

Levianima raised its sword as it approached Serenity's face-down monster, causing one card in her hand to levitate into the air and spin around, revealing itself to be a spell card called "Contact with Gusto."

"Ooh…I'd like to see you use that card," Dylan grinned. "Maybe later. Right now, it's time for some bloodshed!"

Levianima brought its sword down upon the face-down monster, and a small explosion burst from the impact. When the smoke cleared, Serenity's monster was revealed to be none other than Winda, Priestess of Gusto. Her body faded into a wind that whipped into the shape of Gusto Gulldo, who immediately took a defensive posture upon reaching the field.

"Hmph…in that case," Dylan snorted, "I'll have Gishki Chain attack Gusto Gulldo!"

Chain complied, slithering forth and throwing its spike-tipped chain directly into Gulldo's chest. The bird exploded into a wind that again reformed, this time into a small red-eyed bird with a helmet.

"Meet Gusto Falco," Serenity said. "If you send him to the graveyard, he can Special Summon a Gusto monster from my deck in face-down defense position."

"Gah, fine," Dylan snarled, his sadistic mirth gone. "I end my turn."

"All right, then," Serenity said as she drew her card. "I Normal Summon Caam, Serenity of Gusto!"

Another green-haired young woman appeared, this one with paler hair and a white coat.

"Once per turn," Serenity began, "Caam can shuffle two Gusto monsters in my graveyard back into my deck."

Caam raised her staff, and a wind lifted the card forms of Winda and Gulldo back into Serenity's deck.

"When she does this, I can draw a card," Serenity continued as she did so. "Now…I Tune Gusto Falco with Caam, Serenity of Gusto!"

Falco and Caam lifted into the air, transforming into six stars that aligned within the series of rings.

"I Synchro Summon Daigusto Sphreeze!"

Once Sphreeze hit the field, she immediately cast a scowl towards Dylan. The Gishki duelist simply snickered.

"Now, Daigusto Sphreeze, attack Evigishki Levianima!" Serenity cried.

Sphreeze rushed to confront Levianima, but the Ritual Monster—with 700 attack points greater than the 2000 of Serenity's Synchro Monster—was ready. The aquatic beast slashed at Sphreeze, but the contact generated a small explosion of wind that pushed Dylan back. Although he stumbled a bit, he did not fall like Casey had. His life points, however, dropped from 2400 to 1700.

"Heh…that's a neat Synchro Monster," Dylan chuckled.

"You won't be having so much fun for long," Serenity growled. "I'll put a card face-down and end my turn."

"Then…I draw!" Dylan declared, drawing a spell card. The sight of it made him grin widely, showing every one of his uneven teeth. "I activate the spell Salvage!"

A large crane appeared in the arena, reaching down into Dylan's graveyard.

"This card lets me take two Water-attribute monsters from my graveyard with 1500 or fewer attack points and add them back to my hand," he explained. "So, I'll just grab my old friends Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow!"

The two cards, held by the crane, were dropped into Dylan's hand. Serenity grimaced at the sight of this.

"Aww, you remember what they do!" Dylan laughed. "But that's not going to happen just yet. First, I'll activate the effect of the Gishki Aquamirror from my graveyard! By shuffling it back into my deck, I can add a Gishki Ritual Monster from my graveyard back to my hand!"

The Aquamirror radiated a faint light as it levitated out of the graveyard, the card containing Evigishki Gustkraken in tow. While the latter flew into Dylan's hand, the Aquamirror slipped back into his deck.

"And _now_ I'll be discarding Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow," Dylan announced. "Shadow lets me add Gishki Aquamirror back to hand, but Gishki Vision is giving me a very special little friend…a level ten Ritual Monster."

"Level ten?" Serenity repeated. A monster of such a high level was sure to be extremely powerful.

"And guess what? This is where I can use another of Gishki Vision's effects!" Dylan giggled. "If I'm going to summon a Ritual Monster that's Water-attribute, I can use Gishki Vision as the entire tribute!"

"I'm sorry, _what?_ " Serenity balked.

"Ha! Your reaction is priceless!" Dylan gleefully exclaimed. "But I think we've had enough talk for now…let's activate Gishki Aquamirror again, and tribute Gishki Vision!"

The Aquamirror reappeared on the field, and Vision alone glided into it. This time, a four-armed humanoid behemoth began to emerge from the amulet, with a head and shoulders covered in spikes and golden armor over its dark skin.

"Demon of the darkest oceans, advance upon this world and devour everything in your path!" Dylan cried madly. "I Ritual Summon…Gishki Zielgigas!"

The colossal beast rose out of the Aquamirror, slamming itself onto the ground with a mighty roar that showed off its giant fangs. Serenity's eyes widened when she saw its ATK.

"3200?!" she cried. "Okay, seriously, does everyone but me have a monster whose attack points go over 3000?!"

"Ha-ha! Your face!" Dylan blurted, doubling over in laughter. "Oh, I get such a kick out of seeing people's reactions to my monsters...especially when I'm about to crush them! I activate Gishki Zielgigas' effect!"

Zielgigas' crimson eyes gained a blue glow, and like Levianima before it, this power was also given to the top card of Dylan's deck.

"Once per turn, by paying 1000 life points, I can draw a card," Dylan said. "If that card is a Gishki monster, I can shuffle one card on the field into its owner's deck."

"But…that'll leave you with only 700 life points," Serenity pointed out.

"Who cares?!" Dylan cackled. "I don't care if I'm about to drop dead right here! The pain is part of the fun!"

Even when energy rose out of Dylan's body and into Zielgigas' mouth, his laughter still echoed through the arena. It was at this point that Casey and the professors rushed in.

"Serenity!" Casey called. "What's going on?!"

"Where in the he—" Serenity began.

"Oh, look!" Dylan screeched, drawing the attention of everyone present. "I drew a Gishki monster!"

He held up the card as its blue aura faded away, revealing it to be a green-skinned monster with a lion-like mane and an Aquamirror-like amulet around its neck.

"That means that I can shuffle one card back into your deck!" he laughed. "Now, let's see…I'll pick your monster, Daigusto Sphreeze!"

Zielgigas pointed one hand forward, and a tornado of water formed around its entire arm. The tornado rushed forth, snatching Sphreeze and forcing her back into Serenity's Extra Deck.

"Heh…heh-heh…this is going to be _good._ " Dylan chuckled.

"Stop the duel this instant, Dylan!" Clark yelled. No response. "I asked you to stop it!"

"Now, Gishki Zielgigas!" Dylan cried. "Attack Serenity directly! Swarming Tidal Surge!"

This time, a watery tornado formed around all four of Zielgigas' arms. The beast thrust its hands forward, causing the four small tornados to merge into one large aquatic cyclone. With nothing to protect her, the cyclone bore down on Serenity, tossing her about and throwing her onto the floor. Her life points made a dramatic decline, going straight from 4000 to 800.

"SERENITY!" Casey cried. He tried to jump over the railing again, but Dylan caught sight of him. The water duelist's joy vanished in an instant.

"Interfere, and I'll do worse," he growled. "To her."

Casey stopped. With a grunt, he slammed his fist into the railing in a fit of resigned anger.

"That's better. Now…where were we?" Dylan smirked.

Serenity held herself up by both of her hands, her body soaked and her mouth coughing out water.

"I…activate the trap…Wolf in Sheep's Clothing!" she choked, causing her face-down card to flip. "If I take damage from a direct…attack…I can reveal a level one monster in my hand…and Special Summon it!"

"What?" Dylan blinked.

"Then," Serenity continued as she got back onto her feet, "I can Special Summon a second copy of that monster from my deck! So…here it is…Gusto Egul!"

She proudly held up her level one monster, then, slammed the card down onto her Duel Disk. The first Egul was soon joined by another, both crossing their wings.

"More of them?" Dylan growled. "Fine! Gishki Chain, attack one of those Gusto Eguls!"

The green serpent immediately destroyed one of the Eguls, but when Egul's effect took place, a familiar monster appeared on Serenity's field.

"Finally," Serenity smiled.

Pilica, Descendant of Gusto had arrived.

"That thing?" Dylan growled. Then, he smirked. "Heh…I think I'll end my turn here. I want to watch you squirm a little bit more."

"You'll regret not finishing me," Serenity growled as she drew her card. "I Normal Summon…Gusto Gulldo!"

When Gulldo appeared on the field, Dylan's grin stretched from ear to ear.

"Ha, I see what you're doing!" he cackled. "You know what? Do it! Summon Daigusto Sphreeze again, use its effect to end me! Come on, it'll be fun! Come on!"

Serenity paused for a moment, looking down at her field. Her monsters looked back at her expectantly. And then she looked back towards Dylan.

"No."

"What?" Dylan blinked.

"You're sick, Dylan. You need help," Serenity said. "You seemed like a nice guy before now…which is why I don't want to see you hurt yourself."

She looked down at her monsters again.

"I Tune Gusto Egul with Pilica, Descendant of Gusto," she said.

This time, the familiar rings only contained four stars.

 _A level four Synchro monster?_ Casey thought. _What's she planning?_

"Messenger of the skies, bring help from above to the weak and suffering!" Serenity chanted. "I Synchro Summon Daigusto Falcos!"

A larger version of Gusto Falco appeared, with a small rider on top. Upon appearing, Falcos flapped its wings and stirred up a whirlwind around both itself and Gusto Gulldo.

"When Synchro Summoned, Daigusto Falcos gives 600 attack points to all Gusto monsters currently on my field," Serenity explained, as Falcos' 1400 attack points became 2000 and Gulldo's 600 became 1200. "Next…I activate the spell card Synchro Gift! I can target one Synchro Monster on my field and make its attack points drop to zero. Then, its original attack points are added to one non-Synchro monster on my field."

A light shined above Falcos, draining it of its power and leaving its ATK at zero before moving on to deposit that power over Gusto Gulldo. 1400 attack points were then added to Gulldo's 1200, bringing it up to 2600.

"Just enough," Serenity remarked. "Gusto Gulldo…attack Gishki Chain!"

Gulldo soared into the air, surrounded by an aura of green light in the shape of Daigusto Falcos. With a great shriek, it dive-bombed Gishki Chain, creating a small explosion that—while it depleted Dylan's life points—only ruffled his clothing slightly. He growled as his life points fell to zero.

"No, no, no!" he snarled as all cards on the field vanished. "You could have made that hurt! Why did you wimp out?!"

"I told you," Serenity said calmly. "I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore, so I ended the duel with as little pain as possible."

"That's not how it's supposed to be!" Dylan cried. "I—"

He was cut off by a quick hand on his neck, and with sufficient pressure applied to a sensitive spot, Dylan slid into unconsciousness. Professor Essie drew her hand back and looked to Serenity.

"Are you all right?" she asked. "I'm so sorry we didn't get here earlier."

"I'm fine," Serenity said dully. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I screwed up, bringing this guy here."

"You couldn't have known that he was like this," Clark shook his head. "You handled the situation as well as you could have."

"I suppose I should call the authorities," Essie sighed. "Stan, could you take care of him?"

As Clark complied, picking up Dylan's body, Serenity's eyes fell guiltily to the floor. She knew that word would get out about what happened, and once it did, LID would use it to discredit S.P.E.L.L as a school. Without another word, she trudged past the others and left.

"Serenity? Hey, wait!" Casey cried, but Essie put a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave her alone," she said. "I think she just needs some time alone."

"But she's always alone!" Casey protested. "Wouldn't she need someone to—"

"Just leave her be for now," Clark advised. "She was just through quite an ordeal. Let her recover."

"All right," Casey sighed, pushing up his glasses. _I just wish she would open up more, let someone help her when something like this happens…_


End file.
